Exclusively referred to by its street names, Hillsborough County Road 581 follows 30th Street for 1.51 miles from SR 580 (Busch Boulevard) to SR 582 (Fowler Avenue), and Bruce B. Downs Boulevard for 10.04 miles north from Fowler Avenue to County Line Road. The unsigned section on 30th Street serves the Busch Gardens theme park and the University Square neighborhood in Tampa. Bruce B. Downs Boulevard constitutes a major arterial route from there with up to eight lanes by the University of South Florida (USF) and through a medical district anchored by AdventHealth Hospital Tampa and James A. Haley Veterans Hospital.
Bruce B. Downs Boulevard curves northeast from the busy intersection with Bearss Avenue west as the lone route through New Tampa. The often congested arterial converges with Interstate 75 midway between Bearss Avenue and the Pasco County line. A $55.758 million county project1 expanded approximately 3.5 miles of the roadway to eight overall lanes through New Tampa. Among other improvements, work included the replacement of span wire based signal assemblies with mast arms, installation of new storm water and wastewater pipes and the addition of 24,600 linear feet of sidewalk. Construction ran from early 2015 to Spring 2017.
The suburban arterial crosses the county line from New Tampa to Wesley Chapel, where it becomes Pasco County Road 581. Still named Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, CR 581 extends 1.004 miles north to SR 56 and another 3.51 miles as SR 581 to SR 54. The state road portion bridged the gap created by the relinquishment of SR 54 to the west, prior to the completion of SR 56 east to Zephyrhills in July 2019.
Florida State Road 581 / County Road 581 Guides
There are three additional sections of County Road 581 posted in Citrus, Hernando and Pasco Counties as well. These rural routes connect Brooksville and Inverness with outlying areas.
$500,000 in construction completed by May 30, 2023 modified SR 581 (Bruce B. Downs Boulevard) from south of Eagleston Boulevard north to SR 54/CR 54 (Wesley Chapel Boulevard). Activated on May 22, 2023, a new traffic light was added at the north intersection with Eagleston Boulevard while the left turn lane from SR 581 north to CR 54 was lengthened in place of a median entrance for an adjacent shopping center. Additionally a signal was added along SR 581 at the south intersection for Eagleston Boulevard in a separate project completed by mid 2022.2
Costing $1.85 million, the Bruce B. Downs and Richard Silver Way Intersection Improvements project in Hillsborough County added another traffic light to Bruce B. Downs Boulevard (CR 581) for the VA Hospital. Construction was scheduled from from late 2021 to mid 2022 with completion delayed to late 2023.3 An adjacent $1.55 million project scheduled through mid 2022 late 2023 added traffic lights and sidewalks at the intersection with Campus Hill Drive for USF.4 Both signals were eventually activated in September 2023.
href="http://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/ index.aspx?NID=2414- SR 581 Bruce B Downs at Eagleston - Bay Care Signal.
https://www.fdottampabay.com/project/849/bp-2020-c-798-000023Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) web site. - Bruce B Downs and Richard Silver Way Intersection Improvements - Capital Improvement Program Project Fact Sheet - Project Number:69645129. Hillsborough County, Florida government web site.
- Bruce B Downs Blvd at Campus Hill Dr Intersection Improvements - Capital Improvement Program Project Fact Sheet - Project Number:69645129. Hillsborough County, Florida government web site.
Connect with:
Interstate 75
State Road 54
State Road 56
State Road 579 / County Road 582A - Fletcher Avenue
State Road 580
State Road 582 - Fowler Avenue
Page Updated 05-08-2024.